Album Reviews Archives - Page 350 of 557

ACHERONTAS / SLIDHR: “DEATH OF THE EGO / CHAINS OF THE FALLEN”

Nov 182016

(Andy Synn wrote this review of the new split by Acherontas from Greece and Slidhr from Ireland.)

A good split-release, such as the Nightbringer/Dødsengel effort Circumambulations of the Solar Inferno, the recent Ur Draugr/Haar tag-team, or any of the multitude of Misery Index splits, can be a great place for a band to explore ideas and themes which – for whatever reason – might not fit as part of a full album or which they simply want to stand on their own, while also allowing them the chance to “share the stage” (as it were) with another act of a similar outlook and ethos.

In rare cases, such as last year’s unholy alliance between Dragged Into Sunlight and Gnaw Their Tongues, or the much more recent collaboration between Selvans and Downfall of Nur, both of which err closer to the album than the EP side of things, the split release becomes a true amalgam of both bands, giving birth to something wholly unique in the process.

But, however the bands involved choose to approach it, a good split-release is always an opportunity to make a statement, and this new five-track split (3 by the godless Greeks, 2 by the Irish idolaters) from Acherontas and Slidhr makes one very simple statement of intent indeed… we bleed black, and breathe fire, and we will not be denied our due. Continue reading »

MARTYRDÖD: “LIST”

Album Reviews 2 Responses »

Nov 172016

Martyrdöd are unquestionably a metal band, but the roots of their music is in Swedish hardcore, they’re dedicated to the d-beat, and anything you read about them will likely include the words “crust punk” somewhere in the first paragraph (sometimes with “blackened” or “metallic” stuck on the description). Yet they’ve become so much more than what most people would think of as a crust band. Their new album List, for example, is one of the most epic experiences of 2016.

Yes, I know: If there is an afterlife, I will pay some hellish price for using that overworked word. But dammit, there is no better word that comes close to summing up the experience of List. Continue reading »

ANDY SYNN PRESENTS: REVIEWS IN HAIKUS (METALLICA)

Album Reviews, Reviews In Haikus 10 Responses »

Nov 172016

(Andy Synn’s haiku review feature usually includes a trio of 3-line reviews, but this one includes a dozen haikus for a single album.)

So I assume by now that many of you, if you have even a passing interest in the band still, will have heard some (if not all) of the new Metallica album, Hardwired… to Self-Destruct?

After all, it’s finally being released tomorrow, and the band have now debuted a different music video (some better than others) for each of the twelve songs which make up the double-disc set, so it should be easy enough to make your own mind up whether or not you’re still willing to get on-board the Metallica train.

Now as much as we tend to focus our energies on covering the smaller bands here at NCS, sometimes it’s fun to comment on the bigger acts too. It really just depends (in my case, at least) as to whether or not we feel like we have anything interesting to add to the conversation.

And having seen a mixture of reactions ranging from the hilarious (“death to false metal!”) to the fawning (“this is the best album of the year, Metallica can do no wrong!”) I felt like I wanted to at least say a little something about the album… and what better way than through the ever-enigmatic medium of the humble haiku?

So, after the jump, twelve haikus and twelve videos, summing up my feelings, good and bad, towards Hardwired… Continue reading »

UNDERDOGS IN THE UNDERGROUND: RETURN TO THE TALENTED DEPTHS OV OBSCURE MADNESS (PART 6)

Album Reviews, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 1 Response »

Nov 162016

(This is the sixth part of continuing series prepared by Austin Weber putting the spotlight on recent releases, and today he focuses on music from these three bands: Noise Trail Immersion, Gross Ex Machina, and Inexistence of Aeon. To check out Part 1, go here; Part 2 is at this location; Part 3 can be found here, this link leads to Part 4, and Part 5 is here.)

Noise Trail Immersion – Womb

As I’ve said for years, it often pays off to keep track of groups who show promise, but aren’t quite at the level of blowing you away yet. Turin, Italy’s Noise Trail Immersion are yet another group who fit in that category of promising bands worth following who eventually end up capitalizing on the undeniable talent they showed early on. Which for them was 2014’s self-titled experience, which grabbed my attention but left me hoping they’d evolve into something more original moving forward. Continue reading »

ANTAEUS: “CONDEMNATION”

Album Reviews 7 Responses »

Nov 162016

(Andy Synn reviews the eagerly anticipated new album by the French black metal band Antaeus.)

With so much being written recently about the molten new release (is it an EP? is it an album?) by a certain bunch of radical French firebrands, it would be easy, all too easy, to overlook what some of their countrymen are doing.

Which would be a mistake of practically biblical proportions, because this week sees the long-awaited release of Condemnation, the fourth album from Satanic savages Antaeus. Continue reading »

SERPENTINE DOMINION: “SERPENTINE DOMINION”

Album Reviews 3 Responses »

Nov 152016

(TheMadIsraeli wrote this brief recommendation of the self-titled debut album by Serpentine Dominion.)

Serpentine Dominion is a curious side project for Adam Dutkiewicz of Killswitch Engage fame to be engaging in. This debut release is a great album, a shattering hammer blow to the back of the skull of caustic death metal, combined with metalcore’s melody and energy in only the way Adam D knows how to do best. With the weight of drummer Shannon Lucas and vocalist George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher alongside him, the album should certainly raise eyebrows and magnetize people toward this self-titled debut with a great deal of force — and as far as I can tell, it has.

While the music is excellent, and this is an adrenaline-rush-inducing gut-punch of a record that everyone who likes metal in general should pick up, I also can’t shake the feeling that it should’ve been just a KSE album. It would’ve worked just as well. Continue reading »

KHONSU: “THE XUN PROTECTORATE” (SECOND REVIEW)

Album Reviews 10 Responses »

Nov 142016

(Earlier this month we published a review by Andy Synn of the new album by Norway’s Khonsu, and now we present a second one, written by TheMadIsraeli.)

I had this review already written, then Trump won the election and I thought I needed to take a step back and re-evaluate music and its significance to us, especially in the coming time. Things have changed, more than likely for the worse, and metal has a newfound place in my heart and soul in light of this. I’m angry, I’m pissed, and I wish I lived in a different world or dimension altogether, but here we are. It’s albums like Khonsu’s The Xun Protectorate that provide the kind of metallic excess of rage, sorrow, and apprehension that help quench my current emotional turbulence and leave me finding peace. It is also the closest it gets this year to transporting me to a different dimension.

And it’s also the best album of 2016. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: DRAUGSÓL, SROGOŚĆ, CANCER, LASHBLOOD, SHRINE OV BELIAL, INFAMOVS

Album Reviews, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC, SHADES OF BLACK, SHORT BUT SWEET 5 Responses »

Nov 132016

Once again I find myself drowning in attractive new black metal. I’ve assembled some of my new discoveries in this post and have in mind pulling together a second round-up for tomorrow — but yes, I do remember how foolish it is for part-time, half-witted metal bloggers to make forecasts of what they’ll do in the future. I’ll just say… maybe.

This is one of those times when all of the underground bands featured here are newcomers to our site, and I’ve bent the framework of this series a bit with the last band, which is more in the vein of death than black metal. Hope you find something to like…

DRAUGSÓL

Oh look! Another Icelandic black metal band! There seem to be more of them than there are snowflakes in Iceland, but on the other hand, I haven’t yet been disappointed by any of them. I was particularly unable to resist the lure of Draugsól (as if I wanted to) when I saw the fantastic cover art by Moonroot Art for their debut album, Volaða Land. Continue reading »

THE REARVIEW MIRROR (ENSLAVED)

Album Reviews, THE REARVIEW MIRROR 1 Response »

Nov 132016

(Andy Synn wrote this Sunday’s edition of our regular look-back at metal’s earlier days.)

2016 marks Enslaved’s 25th anniversary as a band, and 22 years since they released their first album, Vikingligr Veldi, which is the subject of today’s post.

Originally released on the now-defunct Deathlike Silence Productions (which was founded by original, and now deceased, Mayhem vocalist Øystein Aarseth, a.k.a. Euronymous, to whom the album is also dedicated), Vikingligr Veldi has recently been given a fresh coat of paint and a spiffy new remaster for its long-awaited release on vinyl.

And although the original version still sounds pretty damn good for its age (yes, it’s a little buzzy in places, and occasionally the keys can get a little overbearing, but there’s a pleasing amount of clarity and depth to the overall sound, and each instrument, including the oft-neglected bass guitar, is given a good amount of room and space to breathe), the remaster just gives the album that extra bit of polish and shine, without detracting from the raw energy or rough and ready sensibilities of the album as a whole. Continue reading »

BEHOLD THE ARCTOPUS: “COGNITIVE EMANCIPATION”

Album Reviews No Responses »

Nov 122016

Six years ago I conducted an experiment on some music that happened to be experimental to begin with. I took a song called “Scepters” from Skullgrid, the debut album by Behold the Arctopus, and slowed it down by a factor of three, extending its length from 3:43 to more than 11 minutes. It still sounded fast, with discernible rhythms and pulsing guitars. Remarkably, the blowtorch guitar solos still sounded like badass solos, which is a sign of just how fast Colin Marston and Mike Lerner were playing the original. Same thing with Charlie Zeleny’s drumming — it was so ridiculously fast in the original that even dragged down by a factor of three, it still sounded like what you’d expect to hear on a “normal” metal recording.

So I slowed the song down again, more than 10 times slower than the original, extending the length of “Scepters” to more than 41 minutes. Even at that ridiculously dragged-out pace, the song could still pass as music — albeit music with a demented, demons-on-the-loose quality, the kind of thing you’d risk your sanity to hear for 41 minutes straight. Continue reading »

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